248 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull, ei 



and singing, but when he paused for an instant I could hear the sound of a red hawk; 

 some who were there even said they could see the head of a red hawk coming out of his 

 mouth. He bent over me and I expected that he would suck the poison from my 

 body with his mouth, but instead I felt the beak of a bird over the place where the 

 pain was. It penetrated so far that I could feel the feathers of the bird. The medi- 

 cine-man kept perfectly still for a time; then he got up with a jerk to signify that he 

 had gotten out the trouble. Still it was the beak of a bird which I felt. A boy stood' 

 near, holding a filled pipe. It was soon apparent that the medicine-man had swal- 

 lowed the poison. He took four whiffs of the pipe. Then he must get rid of the poison. 

 This part of the performance was marked by great activity and pounding of the drum. 

 At times he kicked the bare ground in his effort to get rid of the poison; he paced back 

 and forth, stamped his feet, and used both rattle and drum, i'inally he ejected the 

 poison into the wooden bowl. Then he told the people that he had sucked out all the 

 poison, that none remained in my body, and that I would recover. 



Opening his medicine bag, he took out some herbs and placed them in a cup of cold 

 water. He stirred it up and told me to drink it and to repeat the dose next morning, 



and that in less than ten days I would 

 1)6 well. I did as he told me, and in 

 about 10 days I was entirely well. 



Brave Buffalo is considered 

 one of the most powerful 

 medicine-men on the Standing 

 Rock Reservation, and was 

 actively engaged in the practice 

 of native medicine when he 

 held his conferences with the 

 writer. In describing his treat- 

 ment of the sick he said: 



Fig. 26. Drawing on mirror used in treatment of .., , , • ^ ^^ ^ 



the sick Some people have an idea that we 



medicine-men, who get oiu- power from 



different sources, are the worst of human beings; they even say that we get our power 



from the evil one, but no one could disregard such dreams as I have had, and no one could 



fail to admire the sacred stones. Wakag^taqka is all-powerful, and if we reverence 



his work he will surely Jet us prove to all men that these things are indeed his doing. 



It is a very strict requirement that a medicine-man shall act out his dream [see p. 157], 



and that he maintain absolute integrity of character. If he fails to do this he will 



be punished and will not live long. I am not required to fast, only to smoke, showing 



that I am at peace with all men. Dreams come to me now in a natural way. Often 



during the day when I am alone on a journey, and my mind is on many things, I stop 



to rest awhile. I observe what is around me, and then I become drowsy and dream. 



Often I see the sacred stones in my dreams. 



Brave Buffalo's conference with the writer was interrupted by a 

 call to visit a sick person many miles away. On his return, several 

 days later, he said that he left his patient recovering. He had with 

 him a bag containing articles which he had used in treating this sick 

 person, and on his hat he wore a bone about 5 inches long instead of 

 a feather which had been fastened to his hatband on liis previous visit. 

 In describing his treatment he said that he "sucked out the disease" 

 through the bone, and ejected it from his mouth into a bowl of water. 

 Opening his bag, he took from it a small mirror inclosed in a flat frame 



